Dinner dollars presented to Troup PD

Troup High School junior Jeff Fields McCormack explained his interest in benefitting the K-9 program of the Troup Police Department.

Leader Staff Photo/Suzanne Loudamy

Jeff Fields McCormack shakes the hand of Sgt. Kyle Stowers.

Leader Staff Photo/Suzanne Loudamy

Troup Mayor Joe Carlyle and members of the city council applauded Troup utility employees Johnny Cameron, Richard Barrett, Chad Chadwick, Kelly Johnston and Justin Bolton (not pictured) for their hard work repairing water lines during the year's coldest days.

Jeff Fields McCormack, a junior and NHS member at Troup High School, finished his service project benefitting the Troup Police Department’s K9 Program on Monday night. His service project, “Spaghetti For Stowers” has been a labor of love for McCormack for the last six months. He started with an initial conversation at a local cafe, and McCormack’s mind took over from there. On Saturday, March 11th, McCormack hosted “Spaghetti For Stowers,” a spaghetti dinner and raffle to help raise funds for Troup PD’s K9 Program. Raffle prizes included various gift cards and services from local businesses and restaurants.

Troup Police Department’s annual budget for the K9 program is $1,500. McCormack’s initial goal for the dinner was $1,000, which would bring their total up to $2,500 for this year. He far surpassed that goal, as he revealed to Sgt. Stowers and the city council at Troup City Council’s meeting Monday night.

At the city council meeting, after a formal introduction by Troup mayor Joe Carlyle, McCormack spoke to the council, explaining the origins of the project. He then continued by showing the presentation from the night of his dinner, which highlighted the amount of time and effort put into the project, and Luke and Stowers’ background with the police department. After showing this presentation, McCormack announced the amount that he had raised for the K9 program, and officially presented Stowers the money raised from “Spaghetti For Stowers.”

McCormack, with the aid of everyone that helped throughout the six months of preparation and planning for the dinner, raised a total of $1,700, more than doubling the police department’s K9 fund for the year. “I am amazed at how much the community has supported this project, and I am honored to be able to give back to Stowers and the police department in this way,” McCormack said. “Any amount raised, especially an amount of this size, will help Troup’s K9 program tremendously,” McCormack continued, “Luke and Stowers have dedicated their lives to serving Troup, and I am honored to show them my appreciation for their service.”